As part of the process of joining the CWC in January 2004, Tripoli made a declaration to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) wherein it declared the following materials and capabilities, which were verified by OPCW inspections. However, on November 1, 2011, the transitional Libyan government declared a hidden stockpile of chemical weapons.
Chemical science has a direct relationship with human life. In order to celebrate the value of chemistry, the United Nations (UN) has declared 2011 as the ‘International Year of Chemistry’. Various bodies of the UN including UNESCO and other organisations like the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have been entrusted with popularising the science of chemistry.
Since its independence in 1948, Myanmar has consistently taken stance against all kinds of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It has been a signatory to various international protocols and conventions against biological as well as chemical weapons, including the 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare; the 1972 Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxic Weapons Convention; and Chemical Weapons Convention or CWC (1993).
India’s earlier leadership in Biological and Chemical Weapons Convention and the need to take a pro-active role in ongoing UN Process for an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
This destruction of CWs under the watchful eyes of international inspectors by strictly following a declared roadmap could be said to be a feather in the cap for India’s overall disarmament and arms control efforts.
The spectre of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) warfare has led to the formation of global disarmament architecture. The Chemical Weapons convention (CWC) forms an important part of this architecture. It is seen as an important part of the international law supporting disarmament and non-proliferation concerning weapons of mass destruction. It is the only international agreement that essitates complete and verifiable eradication of an entire category of WMD.
India Finishes Destruction of its CW Arsenal
This destruction of CWs under the watchful eyes of international inspectors by strictly following a declared roadmap could be said to be a feather in the cap for India’s overall disarmament and arms control efforts.